SUMMARY: A 12-year-old boy reportedly invented an abduction story to skip his dental appointment.

Posted: June 26, 2014

Dental drama recently reached new heights, when a 12-year-old French boy was reportedly so terrified of the dentist that he faked his own kidnapping to skip the appointment.

In late May, police found the boy hiding in the Alpine village, St. Gervais. The boy allegedly told officers that he had just escaped an abduction attempt from the nearby town of Bagnols.

Despite the farce, the boy described his abductor with imaginative detail: a muscular European in his mid 30s standing about 5 feet 7 inches with a vertical scar on his right cheek, The Local reported. The preteen said he was on his way to the dentist when the man pulled him into his car after stopping to ask for directions. The boy even went on to describe the car.

When the vehicle stopped in St. Gervais, more than 100 miles from his home, the boy said he managed to escape.

The police spent a month investigating the case. But after reviewing security footage in Bagnols, officers called him in for questioning once more, at which point the 12-year-old confessed he made up the entire story so he wouldn't have to go to the dentist.

Although most people don't go to such lengths to avoid sitting in the dental chair, there are plenty who are scared of the dentist. There's even a phrase for it: dental phobia. Yet one of the tricks to quelling fear is to maintain oral health upkeep throughout the year, so the professional has less to work on and you have less drilling to worry about.